DALIAN Wanda Group said yesterday it had scrapped plans to buy Nine Elms Square in London, the latest setback for the Chinese conglomerate as Beijing tightens controls on overseas investment.

St. Modwen Properties, owner of the London building, said Monday it had completed the 470 million pound (US$605.6 million) sale, without naming the buyer. It said in a June filing it had exchanged contracts with Wanda Commercial Properties (Hong Kong).

Wanda’s International Real Estate Center said in a statement yesterday that ownership of the 10-acre (4-hectare) Nine Elms belonged to a third party.

It is unclear who the buyer is at this stage. A sale of Nine Elms was first mooted in 2013.

Wanda still owns the 700-million-pound One Nine Elms twin-tower complex being developed on the south bank of the River Thames. Wanda, which had been diversifying away from its property roots and into entertainment in recent years, has interests in hundreds of real estate properties in 65 markets with an estimated property value of about US$40 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics.

China’s State Council on Friday reiterated it would limit overseas investment in property, hotels, entertainment, sports clubs and the film industry, and planned to maintain a blacklist of domestic firms that violated overseas investment rules.

Chinese banks have been told to stop providing funding for several of Wanda’s overseas acquisitions in order to curb its appetite for offshore deals, according to sources familiar with the matter.

In March, Wanda’s proposed US$1 billion purchase of U.S. TV production company Dick Clark Productions collapsed under the heightened pressure from the government on outbound deals.

Squeezed for finance, Wanda in July agreed to sell 77 hotels to Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. for 19.9 billion yuan (US$2.99 billion) and 91 percent equity in 13 tourism projects to Sunac China for 43.8 billion yuan. (SD-Agencies)